"Excellencies, distinguished delegates, colleagues and friends …
"It is my pleasure to welcome you to this second regular session of the UNICEF Executive Board for 2025. I begin by extending my sincere gratitude to Ambassador Hikmat, President of the Executive Board, and to the entire Bureau for your steady leadership and support.
"We meet at a time of profound challenge for the world's children. Cuts to global assistance are putting young lives and futures at risk just when they need us most. Many governments have already reduced their development and humanitarian budgets, and UNICEF expects at least a 20 per cent drop in income over the coming four years.
"Children are growing up amidst multiple, overlapping threats - conflict, displacement, climate shocks, poverty and discrimination - with too few safety nets to protect them. Essential services that keep them alive, healthy, and safe are being cut back or shut down.
"According to a recent study in The Lancet, cuts in development and humanitarian aid announced in 2025 could result in an additional 14 million deaths globally by 2030 - including 4.5 million children under the age of five. These are not distant risks. They are the immediate, devastating consequences when health systems, nutrition programmes, education services and clean water are taken away from the youngest members of society.
"And while this is foremost a crisis for children, it is a crisis for all of us.
"When children lose access to vaccines, diseases spread across borders. When they go without nutrition, education or protection, the desperation that follows fuels instability and displacement that ripple outward. The more fragile children's lives become, the more fragile the world becomes.
"Yet we also know something else: when we invest in children, the returns are extraordinary. Decades of evidence prove that smart investments in child health, education, protection and resilience do not just save lives - they build stronger, safer and more prosperous societies.
"That is why the discussions we will have this week on our new Strategic Plan and the Integrated Budget could not be more important. These are the tools that will shape how UNICEF continues to deliver for children in this most difficult environment.
"Excellencies … UNICEF is already one of the most cost-effective organizations in the global development and humanitarian system. But in the face of the steepest drop in projected external funding in memory, we are not standing still.
"Through our Future Focus Initiative, we are strategically repositioning UNICEF to continue to deliver for every child, especially the most vulnerable, in a rapidly changing world … and to implement the ambitious targets set out in our new Strategic Plan in a resource constrained environment.
"We are taking bold and necessary steps to become leaner, more agile, and closer to the children we serve.
"We are cutting core budgets at Headquarters and Regional Offices by 25 per cent.
"We are relocating about 70 per cent of Headquarters staff to lower-cost duty stations.
"We are reducing posts across the organization by approximately 14 per cent.
"And we are consolidating regional offices in South Asia and East Asia, as well as Europe and Central Asia and the Middle East and North Africa.
"We are also transforming our approach to delivering technical assistance for our programmes to be even faster, more context-specific and closer to children. This includes establishing four Centres of Excellence to provide high-quality, tailored technical assistance globally, driving more substantial and sustainable impacts at scale.
"These measures require very tough decisions. They involve hardship for talented colleagues who have dedicated years of service to UNICEF. But they are necessary if we are to protect our delivery capacity in country offices, closest to the children who depend on us.
"It is also important to stress that this reset is not only about coping with funding cuts. It is about adapting UNICEF to a changing world. It is about UNICEF being the best that we can be.
"The Future Focus Initiative is making UNICEF fit for purpose in the 21st century. And it is precisely this renewed efficiency and agility that will allow us to deliver on the ambitious goals of the Strategic Plan 2026-2029.
"The new Strategic Plan is our roadmap for the final push to achieve the child-related Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. It is firmly anchored in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and it commits UNICEF to sharpen our focus, strengthen national systems, and expand impact at scale - leaving no child behind.
"The Plan is built around five Impact Results to be achieved by 2029:
"First, save 10 million children's lives and ensure at least 500 million children are healthy, well-nourished, and developmentally on track.
"Second, enable 350 million children and young people to learn and gain skills for life and work.
"Third, lift 100 million children out of multidimensional poverty, ensuring greater access to social protection and livelihoods.
"Fourth, protect 350 million children from violence, including child marriage, female genital mutilation, online exploitation, and violent punishment.
"And fifth, shield 500 million children from disasters and environmental risks by strengthening community resilience and climate-smart systems.
"To achieve these results, the Plan introduces three key shifts:
"First, a sharper focus - moving from a broad set of outputs to a unified whole-of-organization commitment to these five Impact Results.
"Second, a shift to scale - continuing to move from programme outputs to population-level outcomes, with evidence-based interventions delivered across entire systems.
"And third, a differentiated approach - tailoring strategies to country contexts, from low-income and fragile settings to upper-middle-income countries with very different challenges.
"The Plan will be accelerated by investing in adolescent girls, strengthening frontline community systems, and harnessing innovation and digital transformation.
"And it will be underpinned by critical efforts to drive efficiencies, and exercise strong governance and oversight.
"UNICEF's work in humanitarian action will be critical in achieving the Plan's Impact Results. This is particularly important given the historically high numbers of children in need and facing grave rights violations. Despite extremely challenging conditions, our teams will continue their lifesaving work for children in places like the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Haiti, and Ukraine … as well as in Gaza and Sudan where children are now at extreme risk from conflict and famine.
"I would note, this is the first time we have seen two simultaneous famines. In other words, these are truly unprecedented times. This also includes attacks against humanitarian workers, including UNICEF and WFP staff who were detained in Yemen over the weekend. UNICEF remains committed to playing a critical role in responding to humanitarian emergencies.
"Excellencies … in short, the Strategic Plan sets ambitious goals. But they are goals we can achieve with support from our Executive Board, our donors, and our partners.
"The Integrated Budget aligns with this Strategic Plan. It reflects the hard choices we have made to ensure that resources are directed where they are needed most.
"UNICEF projects a total income of $26 billion for 2026-2029 - a 27 per cent decline compared to the previous period. This is the most dramatic financial contraction UNICEF has faced in decades.
"Of the funds available for development and humanitarian activities, 93 per cent will go directly to country programmes. That represents a $6.6 billion reduction from the last cycle, but it underscores our commitment to protecting frontline delivery.
"The Integrated Budget is therefore not only a financial framework - it is a statement of values. It prioritizes children above all, and it channels resources to where they will make the greatest impact.
"Excellencies … with respect to broader changes within the UN system, UNICEF is deeply engaged in the UN80 reform process and the wider UN development system reforms. As the United Nations prepares to mark its 80th anniversary, UNICEF is committed to building a UN that is effective, results-driven, and fit for purpose in the 21st century.
"All UNICEF country programmes are now 100 per cent aligned with UN Sustainable Development Cooperation Frameworks.
"Nearly 90 per cent of our country offices engage in joint programmes.
"More than half of our offices are already in common UN premises, with expanded back-office arrangements.
"UNICEF co-leads both the Humanitarian and Development System Clusters under the UN80 Task Force.
"We are driving efficiencies across the system: scaling up our Global Shared Services Centre, working with WFP to optimize the UN supply chain - including the integrated humanitarian supply chain - and with OCHA, UNHCR and IOM to pool humanitarian diplomacy capacities.
"But no matter how lean or efficient UNICEF becomes, children will not get what they need without a fundamental shift in how the world finances their futures.
"Core resources are the backbone of multilateralism. They give UNICEF the flexibility to respond swiftly in emergencies, the independence to act based on children's needs rather than political agendas, and the ability to reach the hardest-to-reach.
"And yet, public sector regular resources are projected to fall to just $250 million - the lowest in more than a decade, and barely 5 per cent of UNICEF's overall income. For an organization with such a critical mandate, operating in 190 countries, this is dangerously insufficient.
"UNICEF does have one of the most diversified fundraising bases in the UN system. Last year our private sector partners and 10 million individual supporters contributed more than $1.8 billion, including nearly $1 billion in regular resources. We are fortunate and incredibly grateful to our extraordinary National Committees who mobilize our private sector resources. But these contributions cannot replace the responsibilities of governments to uphold the Funding Compact and ensure that children's rights are financed in practice, not just in principle.
"Excellencies … let me return to the point I made at the start: investing in children is one of the wisest, highest-return decisions any government can make.
"Immunization saves 4.4 million lives every year and has prevented 154 million deaths over the past half-century, delivering $1.5 trillion in global health and economic benefits.
"Clean water and sanitation yield a $5.50 return for every $1 spent, while preventing up to 1.4 million deaths a year.
"Treating severe malnutrition can save a child's life for just $150. Preventing malnutrition altogether delivers a $16 return for every $1 invested.
"Since we last met in June, I visited Burkina Faso where I saw the transformative power of investing in children - even in a region like the Sahel which is deeply affected by conflict and the climate crisis. Despite these challenges, most children in Burkina Faso are vaccinated, and community healthcare workers are reaching children in the most remote areas.
"UNICEF and partners are working with communities and supporting the governments across the Central Sahel in opening schools and providing essential services for millions of children.
"These are not only life-saving interventions. They are protective measures that make societies stronger, more stable and more secure. When children are healthy, safe and learning, economies prosper and peace is more likely to endure.
"That is why UNICEF is calling for a renewed global commitment to financing for children - a bold, coordinated effort to ensure that children's rights are funded, not only in principle, but in practice.
"We all have roles to play. We urge governments to protect domestic social spending and ring-fence essential services for children, especially in fragile contexts.
"We urge donors and investors to prioritize children in decisions on overseas assistance, debt relief, climate finance, and humanitarian contributions - with flexibility and principle.
"And we urge the global community to combine ODA with innovative finance, public-private partnerships, and smarter delivery models that put children first.
"Excellencies … at this moment of crisis and change, UNICEF's mandate is more relevant than ever. But relevance is not enough. We must be effective, efficient, principled and trusted.
"That is what the Strategic Plan and Integrated Budget before you represent: a leaner, more agile, more accountable UNICEF - but one that is still ambitious for children.
"Despite the enormous challenges, I do remain hopeful. Hopeful because I see the extraordinary dedication of our staff working on the frontlines. Hopeful because of the trust of millions of supporters around the world. Hopeful because of the strength and commitment of this Executive Board. And most of all, hopeful because children are hopeful themselves and inspire all of us to believe in a better future.
"Together, we can continue to be a force for good, and we can make the world a better place for all children.
"Thank you."
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